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to this day i cannot BELIEVE aang called up and blew off like nine avatars just because they didnt offer any vegan options to ending the war

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once you start referring to a sports team as we/our/us……… that’s when you know it’s over for you

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Adding on,

People like to think of sincaraz as polar opposites, the moon and the sun, if you will. For the most part, fans visualise their rivalry as a straight line, with Jannik and Carlos at the opposing ends. Which I agree to a certain extent.

However, for all the commentary on their tennis styles and narrative, their rivalry to me looks more like that of two planets orbiting the sun while also orbiting each other. It feels counterintuitive, but sincaraz exists because both Jannik and Carlos fundamentally believe in similar ideals, in a sense, and share the same virtues - the manifestation of which happens to be contrasting yet concurrently complementary. They gravitate toward tennis and the idea of performing on the centre stage. That is the main orbit - the sun. Yes, Jannik derives a lot of his drive from solitude, but that does not negate the fact that he is aware he is part of the performance, part of the show, and part of the narrative. He simply chooses to execute the narrative differently. He wants to be the executer, the butcher, and the surgeon, and he is not fueled by the crowd's approval, but rather their shock and eventual understanding to get behind him. He does not yield to the crowd, knowing that someone else on the other side of the net will (cue Spanish bull Protagonist Carlos Alcaraz). He understands that his place is not puppeteering the theatre - at least not in the way Carlos does. Someone else commented that Jannik's arc is perfectly described as the antihero (whole other thesis on why this is not the best description, but for now, the closest one we can give Jannik). Whereas Carlos will always be the hero (warrior). There goes the orbit around each other.

Carlos needs Jannik because he likes the challenge. After all, without Jannik's contrasting tennis play, the theatrics of it will wither away eventually. This is not to say that this is the only dynamic that works for Carlos's grand Colosseum - players with a similar style (fuel and passion) can prove a great show for Carlos, and that is an entirely different conversation. But Carlos needs to be able to see someone else across the net who wants something as badly as him, as deeply as him, stems from the same ideals as him, wants the same as him, but reaches for it in a completely different way. That is the beauty of Sincaraz. The fact that despite their contrasting play, they complement each other in wanting the same thing with the same passion. "But ofc, they are tennis players. They want to win. They want to be the greatest." - Sure, this is redundant. But beyond, Carlos and Jannik are friends off court because they find themselves in each other's ideals. They surround themselves with family, people who bring out the best in them, a tight circle. They value honesty, fair play, passion and respect for your opponent. They are both kids from Mediterranean countries (albeit, Jannik was born up north). They see each other in their reflections; that's why it is so epic. NOW - something has to be said about their birth charts and how Jannik is a Leo (who would have guessed? I straight up thought he was a Virgo or a Pisces - he has fire, water and earth in his big 6) with a predominant fire chart with lots of water placements and only two in earth. Whereas Carlos is a Taurus (mhm I guess this is assumable - he has air, fire, and earth in his big 6) with a predominant air chart, with only one water placement, but fairly balanced on fire and earth placements. They oppose their (lack of) water placements, and the earth v air line. Meanwhile, they complement each other on the fire & air line, and the earth & fire line. Doesn't that make them even more exciting (hopefully someone here understands what I mean).

On a last note, think of the colours that we would paint Sincaraz. A little bit of colour theory. Personally, I always paint Jannik green and Carlos red (that dark clay red). Complementary colours that sit opposite each other. Or if you will, I can also see blue and orange - also complementary colours sitting opposite each other. Hence, their dynamic is much multidimensional than just opposites of a straight line. Contrasting and complementary.

vs

the best thing abt the sincaraz rivalry is not only how their narratives foil each other, their play styles have opposing dynamics; both aspects influence each other.

as jonathan liew once penned abt carlos: "tennis on the very edge of the world, tennis that moves people, tennis as dialogue". such is the essence of carlos' philosophy and play style. "it's about leaving the court happy" is a very interesting perspective bcs he treats tennis as his self-orchestrated spectacle; stade roland garros was his colosseum. it shows his egotism (and this is not a moral judgement here) bcs he is winning and he is having fun too; he wants to have both and he has them through his merits and disposition! the audience are drawn to his sheer magnetism! ppl say sinner is opaque bt to me, this is such a unique and almost twisted perspective. carlos really fits the heroic warrior archetype to the t. he lives and dies for the big stages in his own way! that, however, does not make him a milder man as he is tennis world's and the gods' blessed demigod and reign superiority over his bowed foes w such capriciousness. he toils w them, and relegate them to support characters status in his whole Protagonist Story.

on the other hand, jannik sinner does not elicit a similar level of affection within the crowd. even as their supposed crowned prince (no.1 itw), they do not bow their heads as his subjects. they may, in many occasions, be taken breathless at his brutal efficiency- bt his tennis strike them as trakl struck wittgenstein: such hawkish and merciless mastery seemed profound to them, bt its beauty eludes them completely. he may even dissatisfies them as their egon schiele-esque ruler sitting in the bloodied throne. it is a very different dynamic.

if carlos uses his tennis to connect w ppl (and hence, connected w the awkward italian and inspired this grand rivalry), then sinner does quite the opposite: there is no fanfare, no frenetic theatre to be found here. sinner severs himself from the audience and only focuses on the guillotine and his target (opponent) as his hand dutifully moves to sharpen the blade. such is the italian's essence: tennis as warfare, tennis as execution, tennis as a way to hurt. in mind, jannik could also be compared to the merciless executioner who locks up his opponents in his torture chamber in ragnarok.

tennis needs carlos alcaraz and it also needs jannik sinner in conjunction. without his archrival, the swashbuckling matador hailed from spain would loose one of his precious sources of motivation and who would bother with a play where there is no conflict? without his archrival, the methodical executioner forged in the alps would loose his beloved (even if he does not brazenly state it) pandora box. his claim on the throne would not be legitimatised without a great show of blood to his hungry subjects.

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#what am i even seeing #sincaraz

They're just insane like that

cr. Alamy/GettyImages

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this jannik win was necessary to restore the balance in their rivalry and marriage. wimby 25 final was the equivalent of couple's therapy for them

jannik sinner congratulations on winning wimbledon carlos alcaraz congratulations on not getting divorced

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to me, in my beautiful mind palace, novak likes carlos bc playing him reminds him of his glory days, allows him to step into his younger self at the height of the rafole rivalry, a rivalry he was winning. but playing jannik is like playing that idealised version of himself, an externalisation of everything he used to be (younger, quicker, better)- he can’t ignore the passage of time and he can’t ignore the fact that that version of him always wins

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i love this way too much

ATP PLAYERS representing their countries as stamps ✉️

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<3

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not sure whether i want nole to defeat jannik to avoid another sincaraz grand slam final crashout (where i have a horrible feeling jannik will win) or jannik because i am sick of nolecaraz wimby finals

death, taxes, janole semifinal

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my fav thing on tumblr is following accounts that are mutuals between themselves, and have my feed be a bunch of post duplicates since everyone reblogs their mutuals' posts, resulting in a neverending cycle

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74 min for a set was crazy

sabacanu set point deuce hell is going CRAZY

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Why does reading fics feel amazing but when you try to write one everything is just cringe and everybody is so out of character and you feel like you deserve to explode

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he's actually 3 apples tall!!

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u used to be able to put a dvd in your computer. and then u could watch it

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No cause I can see that, but also kinda a Kei Tsukishima moment as well?!

And if I said Bublik is having his Kenma Kozume realizing tennis is fun moment rn

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because i cannot keep seeing my characters in different scenarios in my head right in the middle of class. they need a way out

"why do you write?" because it’s the only way to silence the characters pacing around my brain like victorian ghosts with unresolved issues that prevent them from moving on.

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✨writing rant because i’m UNWELL and someone said enemies to lovers is “overdone”✨

okay listen.

i don’t care how “overdone” the trope is. let her fall in love with the enemy prince. let him smile like a knife and lie like a prayer. let her fall anyway. and then let her stab him with a hairpin. a hairpin!! we deserve this.

this isn't about originality. this is about execution and emotional violence and aesthetically pleasing betrayal.

tropes aren’t dead. they’re haunting us in new outfits.

every trope is a reusable little narrative skeleton and you get to dress it in whatever cursed, beautiful, petty, yearning flesh your heart desires. you can take enemies to lovers and make it toxic, or tender, or tragic. you can give them shared trauma. you can make them childhood friends turned enemies turned lovers turned enemies again. you can make the stabbing literal or metaphorical. you can make it an almost-stabbing, where she presses the blade to his throat and doesn’t do it. you can make her do it and then sob in his arms while he bleeds out whispering her name like a prayer he never meant to say out loud.

you can make it GAY.

that’s the power of tropes. they’re not restrictive. they’re launchpads. they give readers expectations so you can BREAK them. or better--fulfill them in devastating, soul-twisting ways.

also. like. if you think a trope is “overdone” maybe it’s not the trope that’s the problem. maybe it’s just being written without any real teeth. no emotional bite. no stakes. no tension. no pain. and that’s not the trope’s fault. that’s just boring writing.

give me the obsessive yearning. give me the knife-to-throat confessions. give me the battlefield truce that turns into a five-second pause before they go right back to trying to kill each other. give me quiet moments in enemy territory where they realize they’re not so different. give me the one bed. give me the i hate you but i’d burn down a kingdom for you and hate myself for it.

let the prince kneel at her feet, kiss her knuckles like he’d never crush them, and then go home and report to his war council like nothing happened. let her wear the hairpin he gave her while plotting his assassination. let them both suffer about it. let them choose each other anyway. or don’t. let them fail. let them fall apart in the final act and still reach for each other across the ashes.

i literally do not care how many times we’ve seen it. i want it again. i want it done well. i want it done with spite and softness and aching inevitability. i want to feel like the betrayal was worth it. i want to scream into my hands and text my writer friends like “why would you do this to me” while secretly living for it.

write your trope. write it the way it’s been done before or write it sideways and backwards and messy. just write it with emotion. and a little hairpin. and blood under their fingernails.

okay bye

Rin T.